ISLAMABAD: Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf said he would return to Pakistan to face trial in the murder case of ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
A Pakistani court on Thursday pronounced Musharraf a fugitive in the murder trial but acquitted five men accused of involvement in the 2007 assassination of Bhutto, the first female prime minister of a Muslim country.
In a statement issued to the media Sunday, Musharraf said the verdict of the Rawalpindi Anti Terrorism Court was not against him.
“I will certainly come back to Pakistan and face the trial, as and when I am medically fit,” he said.
“I have been framed in the Benazir Bhutto murder case by way of political victimization, while I had nothing to do with her untimely and tragic death,” he said.
“I have not been the beneficiary of prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s murder and the entire case as pitched against me is materially false, fictitious, fabricated and is a result of political intrigue,” the former army chief said.
The anti-terrorism court branded Musharraf as an absconder and ordered the confiscation of his property.
The verdicts are the first to be issued since Bhutto was killed in a gun and suicide bomb attack nearly a decade ago, sparking street violence and plunging Pakistan into months of political turmoil.
Former president and military ruler Musharraf is alleged to have been part of a broad conspiracy to have his political rival killed before elections. He has denied the allegation.
He was charged with murder, criminal conspiracy for murder, and facilitation for murder in 2013, in an unprecedented move against an ex-army chief, challenging beliefs the military is immune from prosecution.
But he has been in self-imposed exile in Dubai ever since a travel ban was lifted three years later.
Musharraf’s government blamed the assassination on Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who denied any involvement. He was killed in a US drone attack in 2009.
In 2010, the UN report accused Musharraf’s government of failing to give Bhutto adequate protection and said her death could have been prevented.
Musharraf says will face Bhutto murder trial in Pakistan
Musharraf says will face Bhutto murder trial in Pakistan
Pro-Palestine protest planned in Sydney against Israeli President Herzog’s visit
- Herzog is visiting Australia this week following an invitation from Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in the aftermath of the deadly shooting at Bondi Beach
SYDNEY: Pro-Palestine demonstrators plan to rally in Sydney on Monday to protest the visit by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, as authorities declared his visit a major event and deployed thousands of police to manage the crowds.
Police have urged the protesters to gather at a central Sydney park for public safety reasons, but protest organizers said they plan to rally at the city’s historic Town Hall instead.
Police have been authorized to use rarely invoked powers during the visit, including the ability to separate and move crowds, restrict their entry to certain areas, direct people to leave and search vehicles.
“We’re hoping we won’t have to use any powers, because we’ve been liaising very closely with the protest organizers,” New South Wales Police Assistant Commissioner Peter McKenna told Nine News on Monday.
“Overall, it is all of the community that we want to keep safe ... we’ll be there in significant numbers just to make sure that the community is safe.”
About 3,000 police personnel will be deployed across Sydney, Australia’s largest city.
Herzog is visiting Australia this week following an invitation from Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in the aftermath of the deadly shooting at Bondi Beach.
He is expected to meet survivors and the families of 15 people killed in the December 14 shooting during a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach.
In a statement, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry Co-Chief Executive Alex Ryvchin said Herzog’s visit “will lift the spirits of a pained community.”
Herzog’s visit has drawn opposition from pro-Palestine groups, with protests planned in major cities across Australia, and the Palestine Action Group has launched a legal challenge in a Sydney court against restrictions placed on the expected protests.
“A national day of protest will be held today, calling for the arrest and investigation of Isaac Herzog, who has been found by the UN Commission of Inquiry to have incited genocide in Gaza,” the Palestine Action Group said in a statement.
The Jewish Council of Australia, a vocal critic of the Israeli government, released an open letter on Monday signed by over 1,000 Jewish Australian academics and community leaders, urging Albanese to rescind Herzog’s invitation.
